Difficult Spirit

It was hard being Vyacheslav Molotov last week. Under the pounding of the West's three foreign ministers, Molotov retreated all week long. And his instructions from the Kremlin were to do it with good grace, which comes hard to Vyacheslav Molotov.

The West began the week with a show of generosity that was hard for him to match. U.S. Secretary of State John Foster Dulles announced that the U.S. was immediately lifting the passport restrictions that have prohibited U.S. citizens from traveling to Russia and its satellites without special permission. The U.S. was also easing the procedures that control trade with the Soviet bloc, Dulles added. He offered more, if the Russians would reciprocate: distribution of Russian films, books, newspapers in the U.S.; establishment of regular Russian commercial-airline flights, even a monthly exchange of radio commentaries on world developments to be broadcast over U.S. networks.

No matter what the subject, Old Iron-bottom was not as nimble as he used to be. In the past, he could always cover up his defeats in his false-premise logic and steal the headlines by explosive charges of warmongering. Last week he seemed sadly hampered by the new rules imposed by the Spirit of Geneva. The relaxation it had produced in Europe was serving the Kremlin well, and Molotov was apparently under strict orders not to spoil this pleasant atmosphere.

"Parallel Thinking." Again and again he talked of security; again and again the West brought him back to the reunification of Germany. Molotov abandoned his "all-Europe" security plan and produced a new one based on a tactical error committed by Prime Minister Anthony Eden at the first summit meeting. Eden had tentatively proposed zones of controlled armed forces on either side of the present East-West German border--instead of on the eastern border of a reunited Germany, as the West now wants. Britain's Macmillan forcefully rejected both Molotov's proposal, and, by implication, Eden's earlier idea: "We ... do not believe that there can be any real security in Europe as long as Germany is divided."

Dulles, giving Molotov no chance to blame the West for a failure at Geneva, chose to emphasize the points of seeming agreement ("a quite remarkable degree of parallel thinking"). "There is before us a realizable vision of security in Europe . . . provided--and of course this proviso is of the utmost importance--we can make similar progress with respect to the unification of Germany," Dulles declared. Molotov was forced to a "fallback position" that free elections would deprive East Germany's loyal citizens of the joys of Communism.

"I am really surprised that Mr. Molotov should assume, as he apparently does, that under conditions of free elections, where the people have the right to see and examine what is going on, they will reject the East German regime," said Dulles. France's Pinay sardonically pointed out that the East Germans themselves did not seem to appreciate the "social achievements" Molotov wanted to protect. "Three million Germans have fled from Herr Grotewohl's paradise since 1945," Pinay pointed out, "and the exodus is still going on, and increasing."

Molotov twisted and turned under the onslaught. He even ventured a remarkable defense of unfree elections. "Let us not take such an arrogant view of the single-list election," he said. "In Czarist Russia there was a system of many lists and it proved unsatisfactory. We have a single list, in the Soviet Union, but it produces a representative government." He pressed for the attendance of "both" Germanys at the Geneva conference, insisting that "the German people" support the Communist East German government. Retorted Macmillan: "I recall that the government of East Germany was returned to power by over 99% of the votes cast. Over 32 years, I have participated in ten general elections, in my country. Any candidate, let alone any party, who polls 99% of the vote is not an ordinary person. He must be considered a walking miracle." Snapped Molotov: "I suppose that must be considered an exercise in wit."

Elections Now. At week's end Molo tov slipped. He carelessly suggested "we should take practical steps which can be implemented right now." Dulles swiftly took him up on the words. He proposed a short plan, approved by the West German government, to hold all-German elections for a constitutional convention in September 1956, set up a four-power commission immediately to set the electoral rules and provide for supervision, and to submit its report by January. Molotov, though dutifully promising "study" in the spirit of Geneva, could only protest that it was "torn from the basic problem of European security."

The West had pressed as hard for German reunification as any German could wish. But no amount of slugging ever hurt a manager much, and Molotov's managers were in Moscow. At week's end, Molotov staggered back to his Moscow corner, there to hear what new instructions his managers might whisper into his ringing ears. Curiously, Pravda picked this moment to deliver a renewed blast at Molotov for the "deviationism" for which he publicly apologized a month ago. Old Bolshevik Molotov was finding it tough all over.

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